This invention relates to apparatus for watering plants and more especially to apparatus for watering plants, seedlings and seeds (all referred to hereinafter simply as xe2x80x9cplantsxe2x80x9d) bedded into a growing medium contained within a plastics enclosure such as a grow bag.
Grow bags in themselves are well known and generally are accepted as a useful way of growing flowers and produce such as tomatoes in a variety of locations including greenhouses, patios, sun rooms and balconies. Grow bags essentially comprise a formulated growing medium sealed within a plastics bag and provide a complete environment in which flowers and crops can be grown. Conveniently, grow bags are marked with lines to indicate to the user where incisions should be made in the plastics covering for the planting of individual seeds or seedlings. Such incisions are normally small in comparison with the overall size of the grow bag to minimise inter alia the effect of evaporation. Relatively small incisions means that only a small amount of the growing medium is subjected to the effects of sun and wind. This need to minimise the amount of growing medium exposed to the elements has hitherto required that watering of the grow bag contents is effected through the incisions made to receive plants. Watering through these relatively small incisions to an adequate extent to feed all plants bedded in the growing medium is difficult to achieve and almost impossible to check. The alternative is to remove the uppermost side of the plastics covering. Whilst this assists the watering process, it also maximises the effects of evaporation and loss of growing medium. In both cases, the gardener runs the risk of wetting a plant""s leaves thereby causing plant burn. A further problem associated with grow bags is caused by the fact that they generally have high contents of peat and fibrous material which are both light and easily disturbed by water. If placed in direct sunlight any water added to the growing medium will rapidly evaporate. Once dried, the peat and fibrous material will not accept fresh water readily, choosing instead to float on water added to the bag contents and, in time, to flow over the edges of the plant receiving holes of the bag. Repeated watering tends to erode growing medium from plant-receiving holes of the bag which, in time, can lead to damage to the root systems of the plants, leaving the plants open to possible attack from insect or fungal organisms.
Erosion of discharged peat and water from the bag can also be unsightly, particularly when the bag is positioned on a balcony, patio or the like.
If a grow bag is to be used for produce such as lettuces, a higher density of plants is normally required. This, in itself, can create problems in that it is unlikely that water fed to the bag contents will be distributed satisfactorily to all plants present in a bag. Also, the problems referred to above concerning evaporation and erosion are worsened with each hole cut into a grow bag.
Co-pending International Application WO 93/23989 discloses apparatus which comprises a water-receiving reservoir which communicates with one end of a pipe formed along its length with a series of spaced holes through which water introduced into the reservoir can flow. In use, the pipe is pushed into one side of a grow bag and lies on top of the growing medium present in the bag, the plastics surface of the bag lying on top of the pipe. One problem which can arise with this apparatus is that the presence of the pipe within the plastics bag reduces the surface area of the growing medium of the bag; furthermore water admitted to the bag interior through the pipe does not always flow evenly to th e entire bag contents.
The present invention sets out to provide watering apparatus which overcomes, or at least alleviates, the problems referred to above.
According to the present invention there is provided watering apparatus for use in combination with a plastics bag containing a growing medium (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cgrow bagxe2x80x9d), the apparatus comprising an open topped vessel formed with an opening positioned towards its base through which water present in the vessel can leave, and a grow bag formed with a lengthwise extending sleeve of generally inverted channel shape and closed at each end which overlies a substantially linear array of holes formed in the upper surface of the grow bag, the arrangement being such that in use the opening of the vessel is positioned adjacent to a pierced end of the sleeve whereby water leaving the vessel opening enters the sleeve and passes through the holes formed in the bag surface to water the growing medium of the grow bag.
The border of the vessel opening may be circumvented by an outwardly protruding tube which acts to support or co-operate with the adjoining end of the sleeve.
The open top of the vessel may support a cap including a multiplicity of holes through which water can enter the vessel. The cap may be secured to the uppermost rim of the vessel or may be detachable therefrom.
The holes formed in the surface of the grow bag may be evenly spaced or the spacing between neighbouring pairs of holes may increase from one end of the bag to the other.